When modern readers first approach the Old Testament
they are confronted with social and cultural situations they do not
understand, alien political and economic structures, and notations of
geographical places and people groups with which they are unfamiliar.
All of this information is communicated in a literature using
conventions and contexts which are often quite unlike those familiar
from modern literature. While many will simply read the text and
substitute their own culture where possible and ignore much that is not
understood, the discerning reader will immediately see the problem in
such an approach. But where do they turn? A concise volume that would
effectively introduce students to these issues and the further resources
available to examine them has been a desideratum of many teachers.

In Studying the Ancient Israelites. A Guide to
Sources and Methods, Victor Matthews has created just such a primer.
The author has devoted much of his writing and editing energies to the
creation of resources to facilitate students’ understanding of the
“world” in which the biblical text was written. This volume intends to
assist “students, laypeople, and their instructors” (p. 9) by
facilitating their navigation through the variety of approaches to the
biblical text utilized in contemporary scholarship. But beyond that,
Matthews understood the need to introduce readers to the broader
contextual world of the text and so aimed at what he terms a “hybrid
focusing on the biblical and ancient Near Eastern sources and
anthropological, geographical, historical, literary, and sociological
methods that will make the study of the ancient Israelites more
complete” (p. 7). His introductory handbook assumes no prior knowledge
of biblical studies, yet introduces and summarizes a broad spectrum of
information and approaches to guide the novice reader in the correct
direction while providing more advanced students with a sound
comprehensive review of methods and approaches to the task of
interpretation.

In approaching this task Matthews works to
demonstrate the manner in which historical geography, archaeology,
literary approaches and the social sciences contribute to our
understanding of the world of the ancient Israelites. A final chapter
considers history and historiography. The variety of approaches to these
areas of scholarship, including debates and disagreements, are concisely
outlined, and Matthews can be commended for charting a balanced,
informative, and readable course through the material. For example, when
he discusses the use of archaeology in the reconstruction of the
biblical world, he is careful to point out what archaeology can and
cannot be expected to do. In this way, one of the perennial questions
raised of biblical interpreters, the relationship between archaeology
and the Bible, and the question of archaeology’s ability to “prove the
Bible,” is refocused by Matthews’ descriptive summation of the methods
and approaches of the discipline. In part, this is accomplished by a
discussion of the steps taken in a typical archaeological campaign, a
summary which broadens the reader’s understanding of the limited area of
any site which can actually be excavated, the difficulties in
interpreting cultural remains, and the need to use artefact and text to
construct the past.

Beginning with the land, in a chapter titled
“Historical Geography,” Matthews describes numerous important
assumptions biblical authors make of readers. While their ancient
audience would have a sense of the distance between sites mentioned,
travel times, topography and climate, these are assumed in the text
rather than described. Similarly, textual allusions to economic, social
and cultural situations which help to shape the meaning of the text
stand at a great distance from the modern reader. The more the reader
understands the assumptions made by the writer, the less likelihood
there is that the text will be seriously misunderstood. Matthews’
discussion of the contribution of the social sciences to the study of
the Bible introduces a broad spectrum of background ideas to the reader,
providing clear guidance that is especially helpful to the novice
reader.

As the modern interpreter is also distanced from the
literary and intellectual climate of the ancient Near East, an
introduction to both the literature and its conventions is necessary for
a nuanced and accurate understanding of the biblical text. To facilitate
understanding, a variety of approaches to reading the text have
developed which collectively provide important insights to understanding
the Bible. As most scholars do not utilize a single literary approach to
the Bible, Matthew’s introduction outlines and describes the various
forms of interpretive approaches in what he terms “the scholar’s
toolbox,”

In addition to the maps, charts, photos, and line
drawings used to illustrate the text, numerous boxes that address
particular topics are liberally sprinkled throughout the volume. The
shaded text boxes serve two primary functions: to describe and/or
summarize a variety of topics, and to reinforce materials discussed
elsewhere. The section on archaeology may again be used to illustrate.
Boxes titled “Archaeology and Interpretation,” “Before You Dig,”
“Developing a Ceramic Chronology,” “Ceramic Typology,” “Houses in the
Biblical Narrative,” “Work Space in the Biblical Narrative,” “Monumental
Structures in the Biblical Narrative,” and “Reading Tomb and Text” are
distributed throughout the chapter which concludes with two helpful
summations: “Opportunities Raised by Archaeology,” and “Limitations of
Archaeology.” Two indices, “subject” and “ancient writings” facilitate
use, as well as a bibliography. It was unclear to me why two of the
chapters concluded with smaller bibliographies while other chapters did
not, but this is a minor matter in what is an extremely helpful and
affordable volume.

This readable work would serve well as supplementary
reading for an introductory course in Old Testament, Ancient Israel or
hermeneutics. Equally helpful is its usefulness to recommend as a
resource to those serious non-professional readers of the biblical text
who are seeking informed and helpful guidance in their reading of the
text as a resource for personal faith.